Sing It Out
by PorQueTonSerio
Summary: Ramona needs help escaping from her abusive fiancee and Swagger is there to help. Swagger/OC. Rated M for language and explicit events to come later.
1. Just Close Your Eyes

A/N: Okay. So this is my very first wrestling fic. It took me a while to even decided to bring this to the masses, so any and all input would be appreciated. Let warn you all now: this is NOT a Swagger/Punk slash fic. It's a Swagger/OC/Punk fic, but I listed the characters as Swagger and Punk. Sorry if that confused anybody. Okay. Now go ahead and read and review. Thanks!

-PQTS

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><p><em><strong>One night in the dark, a vision of someone I knew<strong>_

_**And then in the darkness I saw a voice say "I'm you"**_

_**Inside me a light was turned on**_

_**Then I was alive.**_

_**-Waterproof Blonde, "Just Close Your Eyes"**_

Ramona watched the match on the screen in utter silence, her mind alight with bitter thoughts. Phil was losing to The Viper…again. She sighed to herself as Phil was tossed across the ring once more. She hated that he demanded this rematch after he'd already lost at WrestleMania. He should have just cut his losses and moved on to some other feud, but he didn't. No, he went straight to Vince after the match and managed to whine his way into a rematch at Extreme Rules. And all for what? To have his ass thoroughly kicked by Randy Orton. She remembered asking him to let the feud die when he'd returned to the hotel after WrestleMania. Orton had hurt him badly enough for her to have to lay several ice packs over his back and legs. She couldn't take seeing her fiancée in that amount of pain again, and she'd hoped that he wouldn't force her to.

"_You don't have to do it, Philly. You don't have to prove anything to anyone by beating Orton." she said, begging him with her eyes not to proceed. He didn't answer her right away but, when he did, Ramona completely regret say anything at all._

"_Why?" he growled out, his face twisting up in rage. "You don't think I can beat him?" he questioned. Ramona barely even opened her mouth to respond before Phil's hand came out to wrap around her throat._

"_How dare you fucking doubt me." he growled out before throwing her onto the floor and standing over her, fists clenched at his sides…_

She shuddered at the memory and dropped her eyes to her trembling hands in her lap. That was almost a month ago and she still felt like it'd happened only hours ago. She took a deep breath to calm herself as she stretched her fingers out, staying their shaking, and began to play and twist the large engagement ring on her left hand while chewing her bottom lip. She studied the ring with her deep brown eyes, smiling slightly as she did so.

It was truly a magnificent ring. The band was made of white gold with a beautiful design etched into its surface. There were three 9 karat diamonds balanced on the top of the ring, the centermost stone being larger than the two on the sides of it. Phil had it made especially for her, going as far as to hand draw the band's design and special request the size of the diamonds. Though she wasn't much for flashy engagement rings, she loved this one all the same.

A sharp knocking on the lounge room door ripped her from her thoughts and caused her to jerk upright into a standing position. She smoothed out her plain black tank top, dark blue skinny jeans, and tugged up her black biker boots before smiling brightly.

"Come in!" she called as she ran a quick hand through her jet black, bobbed hair. The door opened slowly, revealing the large form of Mason Ryan. He smiled at her as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. Her smile widened at the sight of him as she was truly happy to see him.

"Hi, Barri." she said brightly, opening her arms to hug him. He smiled deeply upon hearing his given name; she was the only one that he knew outside of his family that called him Barri.

"Hello." he said, his accent slipping through as he wrapped her up in his massive arms. He held her tightly for a moment before releasing her and taking a step away from her.

"How have you been? I feel like I haven't seen you in so long." he asked, as his eyes drifted over her form. She smiled at him despite the slight fear that rose in her as he examined her; she hoped she'd hidden her bruises well enough today.

"I'm good," she lied. "I was a little sick last week, but I'm okay now." she added, offering up an excuse for her recent absence. He nodded to her.

"Phil told us. I am glad that you're feeling better. I was beginning to worry." he said. Ramona nodded in agreement before looking behind Barri quickly.

"Where's Joe and Dave?" she asked, noting that the Welshman had come alone.

"They're at Gorilla position waiting for Punk." he said, plopping down onto the plush leather couch and tuning into the match. Ramona followed his lead and sat, turning her attention back to the match. She winced as she witnessed Randy swing a Singapore cane down across Phil's back. The look on Randy's face was one of pure rage, a look that no one could ever fake. She couldn't blame him really; Phil had said some nasty things onscreen and even nastier things off screen. Phil was lucky that Randy hadn't killed him by now. Ramona sighed at that thought and turned to look at Barri again.

"Was he still upset about the ban?" she asked, referring to the anonymous Raw General Manager's decision to ban the members of the Nexus from ringside. Barri nodded.

"He was very upset again, as if he didn't know that this was going to happen. I don't even want to know how he'll be if he loses the match." he said in that bassy tone of his. Nervousness rose up in her as he spoke those words causing her to go back to fiddling with her engagement ring and chewing at her bottom lip. Mason noticed this and reached out to her. He wrapped his hand firmly around her right wrist, staying her fidgeting and getting her to look back up at him.

"Are you all right, Mona?" he asked, his concern evident in his tone. She forced a smile onto her face, revealing to him her straight white teeth, and placed her left hand over the one he hand on her wrist.

"I'm fine," she said, though it was obvious that he knew she was lying. She could tell from the way he furrowed his brow and frowned at her that he didn't believe her, and she desperately hoped that he wouldn't push her further. She was very good about hiding the bruises at this point so that no one would question her, but she hadn't accounted for anyone noticing any sort of change in her behavior. Phil hadn't ever warned her against speaking to anyone about what went on between them, but she had a hunch that her opening up to anyone wouldn't be received well by her fiancée. With that thought in mind, she made sure to keep the smile plastered on her face. He was silent for a long moment before letting out a sigh and looking at her sternly.

"Okay, but I want you to know that you can talk to me if you ever need to. You do know that, right?" he asked, still gazing at her intently. She didn't respond immediately, instead choosing to think about that fact. She trusted Barri more than anyone else she knew. She'd trusted him from the moment she met him; he'd been like a brother to her for a very long time now. She wanted to tell him about what Phil did to her, what he'd been doing to her for several years now, but she wasn't sure if she should do that. He could probably help her somehow. She knew that he wouldn't be the type of person to just stand by and allow someone to get hurt. She could tell Barri, and he would help her fix this whole thing. He could help her get away from Phil. A pain built in her chest at that thought, sadness working its way through her veins. No; she would not tell Barri about the abuse. She loved Phil still and honestly couldn't bring herself to leave him because of that fact alone.

"Ramona?" Barri asked, breaking through her thoughts. She took a deep breath before forcing herself to smile again.

"I'm okay, Barri." she replied, ignoring the pain that bloomed in her chest as she lied to him.

"And you would tell me if you were not?" he asked in that same concerned tone. She smiled brighter and took both of his large hands into her smaller ones as best she could.

"You're the first person I'd come to." she said in what she could only pinpoint as truthfulness. A blindingly white smile erupted on his face again as he nodded and brushed a light kiss across her knuckles.

"Good, chwaer fach." he replied, finally bringing a true smile to her face at the use of the endearing term. He released her hands and opened his mouth as if to speak again before he was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Both Ramona and Barri whipped their heads towards the source of the sound to find Phil standing in the doorway of the lounge room. Ramona ripped her hands from Barri's grasp, shooting him an apologetic look before quickly looking back at Phil.

"Am I interrupting something?" he asked in a dangerous tone, a smile playing on his lips. He was still wearing his ring gear, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest. His face was void of any real emotion, but his hazel-green eyes burned with absolute rage. Ramona paled under his gaze, fear ripping through her instantly. She knew that look all too well. She stood up quickly and faced Phil, her hands automatically coming together in front of her so she could play with her engagement ring again.

"No, baby. Barri and I were just talking." she said quickly before taking her bottom lip between her teeth once more. She mentally cursed herself for how obviously nervous and afraid she was in the way that her voice trembled, and she could only hope that Phil hadn't noticed it. Though she wasn't looking at him, she could feel Barri looking at her curiously as he stood up beside her and faced his leader. Phil scrutinized them both before he lifted himself from the doorway and approached his fiancée. He stopped just in front of Ramona, his eyes burning down into her own. Her lower lip began to tremble, and she suppressed a whimper as she lowered her gaze to the floor.

"Mason, you may leave now. I need to speak to my fiancée alone." Phil growled out, not even bothering to look at the other male. Barri hesitated for only a moment, sensing the obvious fear radiating off of Ramona, before grunting an affirmation and exiting the room. Phil took in a deep breath as soon as the door was closed and let it out slowly, his breath washing over the top of her head. He was very still for a moment before he reached out and gently tucked her bangs behind her right ear. She quickly looked up at him in confusion, unsure of why he was being so gentle with her. As usual, his face did not betray his thoughts, which only caused her fear to deepen. He brought his hand up again and caressed the side of her face, running his fingertips down along the curve of her cheekbone and his thumb across the soft flesh of her bottom lip. She began to relax under his touch only to have him violently grasp her jaw, holding her in place and eliciting a small whimper from her. He glared down at her through his green eyes, his face contorted into a look of pure rage.

"Did you have a good time with Mason, Doll?" he growled out at her, tightening his grip on her. She winced at the increased pressure on her jaw, reaching her hands up to tug at his wrist out of instinct. This only caused him to tighten his grip further, and he bared his teeth at her as the heat of his rage boiled hotter and hotter. Tears built up in her eyes, but she willed herself not to let them fall.

"Philly, we only talked." she said, managing to speak through the pain in her jaw. Phil brought his face closer to hers, his eyes taking in every inch of her pained expression.

"Really? Then why did I catch him kissing your hand like he's fucking Casanova or some shit?" he asked angrily. Ramona swallowed thickly at his words; she'd hoped he hadn't seen that. She hesitated for a moment, earning herself a tighter grip from Phil.

"It's not what you think, Philly. Barri's like a brother to me! He would never do anything like that with me!" she cried. Phil narrowed his eyes at her, causing a new wave of fear to wash over her.

"I'm not so sure that Mason's the one that I should be worrying about pulling anything like that." he said in a low tone, as if he didn't want anyone but her to hear the words despite the fact that they were the only two in the room. Ramona looked at him wide eyed. She couldn't believe that he'd say that to her. Her tears spilled now as the hurt from his words sank deep into her heart, settling there and swelling with each beat it made.

"I would never do anything like that, Philly. I'd never cheat on you. I love you too much to do that." she said, speaking honestly. She wasn't sure that he even believed her, but he was silent as he looked at her, seemingly searching for any sign of a lie in her eyes. He took a deep breath and released her, throwing her away from him and causing her to stumble backwards a bit. She managed to keep her footing and reached up to wipe her tears away just as he raised his right hand high and slapped her with all his might. Her head snapped to the side from the force of the blow, and stars instantly bloomed across her eyes. She was sure she tasted blood in her mouth, but didn't get the chance to check before Phil grabbed her and pulled her towards him again. He wrapped his right arm around her waist, holding her tight to his bare torso. He crushed his left hand into her hair and wrenched her head back so that she was looking up at him. He glared down at her silently for a quick moment before he crashed his lips down onto hers in a violent kiss, his lip ring pressing painfully into her bottom lip. His tongue probed at her lips and she parted them, allowing him to claim her mouth with his tongue. He quickly sucked her bottom lip between his teeth and bit down on the soft flesh there. She fought down the whimper building in her throat as Phil lifted his face from hers and looked back down at her angrily.

"You are mine, Ramona. You hear me? **Mine**." he growled out, tugging on her hair for emphasis. A small cry escaped her from the pain of her hair being pulled, and she began to nod at him as best she could.

"I'm yours, Philly. No one else's." she said in a small voice. Phil huffed out a laugh before smacking a heavy kiss to her lips and then releasing her.

"Damn right you are." he muttered to himself as he turned away from her and began to change into his street clothes. Ramona stayed where she was for a couple of minutes, taking the time to dry her tears and compose herself before she turned to Phil. She watched him dress for a moment while she ran a hand through her now frazzled black locks, thinking of something to say that wouldn't upset him. She could only think of one thing that could possibly appease him.

"I'm sorry, baby." she said as he pulled his sweat shirt up over his shoulders. He lifted his bright eyes to her as he zipped up his sweatshirt, a devilish grin splitting his face.

"No, Doll. You're not." he said as he walked over to her again. He ran a hand up her arm, barely grazing the skin there and getting her to shudder beneath his touch, before bringing both of his hands up to cup the sides of her face.

"But, when we get back to the hotel, you **will **be sorry for everything you've done to me. And, if I'm lucky, I'm gonna make damn sure that you regret ever meeting Barri Griffiths." he said. Ramona was silent as fear erupted within her again. When it came to things like this, Phil was always a man of his word.

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><p>Phil was right; he was certainly able to make her regret the things she'd done to upset him. The moment the hotel door had closed behind them, he swept her up by her waist and threw her down onto the hotel bed, not bothering to turn on the lights in the room. He climbed over her thin form and straddled her waist as he pinned her wrists down into the comforter. She didn't fight him; she knew better than to struggle at this point. His grip on her wrists was painfully tight and she couldn't help the hiss of pain that escaped her from the sensation. A sadistic smile spread across Phil's face as he closed his hands on her wrist more, watching the pain creep further into her features.<p>

"You could have avoided this, Doll." he said as he leaned down and pressed a light kiss to her neck. Ramona instinctively lifted her chin to expose herself more to him, receiving a small grunt of approval for her efforts. "I don't like having to hurt you, but you leave me no choice when you do things like the shit you pulled tonight. It makes me think that you don't love me anymore, and I can't have that. Because I love **you** so much, Doll Face." he growled out, his words devoid of any emotion but anger and pure lust. He pressed several more wet-lipped kisses to her exposed neck before his lips trailed down the length of her slender neck and rested over her collarbone. After over 10 years of being with her, he knew very well that this was the most sensitive place on her entire body. He placed one gentle kiss there, causing her to shudder in something akin to pleasure, before he began to suckle the skin there lightly. A moan escaped her then, one that she could not stop, as he worked his lips over the sensitive area. She was completely wrapped up in the sweet sensation until he opened his mouth wide and clamp his teeth down over the delicate bone and thin layer of skin above it. A shriek escaped her as she felt his teeth sink down deep into her flesh. Tears immediately began to spill from her eyes as she attempted to rock her hips to throw him off of her. Phil clamped down harder on her collarbone, ignoring her screams of pain and the taste of her blood in his mouth. After a long moment of her screaming, he released her and lifted his head back up to look at her, his sick smile present once more. His lips and teeth were stained with blood and he licked it away before huffing out a laugh. A sob escaped her as blood seeped from the stinging teeth marks on her chest, the wound throbbing painfully. His smile deepened at this and he leaned down and swiped his tongue over the wound, causing her to gasp and jerk in pain.

"You still love me, don't you, Doll Face?" he asked, looking back up at her with his sick smile. She could feel that familiar, thick hardness pressing into her pelvis that she recognized immediately as Phil's erect cock threatening to burst from his Dickies, and she sobbed a little harder. _Why is he doing this to me? _she thought as Phil shifted a bit over her and demanded that she answer him. She was sobbing too heavily to speak, so she nodded furiously to him instead, hoping that he'd accept the answer. A scowl crossed his features as he hovered dangerously over her wound. Quickly, he bit down into the gash again, this time harder than he'd previously done. She howled in pain again, thrashing violently against him once more in an attempt to get him off of her. She was in agony as pain ripped its way through her body, sending her nerves into a frenzy that caused her to twitch. She knew she'd become numb to the pain eventually, and she prayed that that moment would come soon. She sobbed in relief when Phil lifted his teeth from her flesh again and quickly released his hold on her wrists. She didn't have much time to enjoy the relief before Phil wrapped his left hand tightly around her throat, cutting off her airway completely. He leaned down towards her, bringing his lips right up to her ear.

"I wanna hear you say it, Doll. Tell me you love me." he growled out. He sat back again with his hand still firmly attached to her throat to watch her struggle beneath him. She could feel her face reddening from the lack of oxygen, her veins popping as well, as she brought her hands up to scratch at his thick wrist. She hadn't answered him yet which obviously displeased him as he brought his right hand up to the bleeding bite mark on her chest and pressed the heel of his palm down onto it. She wanted so badly to scream out in pain, but Phil's grip on her kept her silent even as she writhed beneath him. Her vision began to cloud over as she began to slip into unconsciousness, so she used whatever breath she had left in her lungs to finally respond to him.

"I love you." she mustered out, though none too loud. Phil's grasp on her neck loosened, allowing her to take a small breath as he leaned towards her again, his ear turned to face her.

"What was that?" he asked as he raised his eyebrows. She took another breath, giving herself enough oxygen to speak louder.

"I love you." she said in a much louder tone. Instantly, he released her, lifted his hand off of her aching open bite mark, and allowed her a moment to cough and sputter before smashing their lips together. She could barely breath beneath the pressure of his kiss, but she allowed him access to her mouth once more, ignoring the ache in her chest from the lack of breathing. When he finally pulled away from her, she gasped in huge lungfuls of air as her body attempted to make up for all the oxygen she'd been deprived of. She brought her hands up to her neck, feeling the painful hand shaped bruises already coming to the surface there, before looking back up at Phil tearfully. He looked back at her with cold, green eyes and he brought his hands up to the side of her face, holding her face tightly in his calloused hands.

"Tell me again." he said in an icy tone. She caught her breath again before nodding to him.

"I love you." she said in a hoarse voice. Phil leaned down to bury his face in her neck again to place heavy, wet lipped kisses down her jaw and neck.

"Again." he said as he licked her battered neck, causing her to wince. She wasted no time in responding to him.

"I love you, Philly. I love you so much." she said, fighting down a cry of pain as he roughly bit the flesh of her neck. He did not bite hard enough to break skin this time, but he still bit hard enough to likely leave a mark behind the next day.

"Good." he said as he sat back up and lifted his shirt up over his head, his sadistic smile back on his face. Tears threatened to flood her eyes again as she recognized what was coming next. It was another one of Phil's lessons; she knew it only as pain.

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><p>Nearly two hours later, Phil was finally finished with her. He rolled off of her broken and battered form, pat the inside of her thigh, and grabbed a pair of boxers and sweats before heading off to the bathroom to take a shower. Ramona laid naked and panting on the bed, fresh tears forming in her eyes. She fought them back, refusing to cry again, and waited for Phil to get into the shower. It wasn't until she heard the sound of rushing water did she finally lift herself from the mattress, whimpering and hissing in pain the whole way up. Her body ached everywhere and the stinging she felt over her collarbone signified a desperate need for her to clean the wound. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, forcing herself not to feel; if she focused on the pain, she'd be crippled by it. She willed herself to feel numb all over and sighed in relief as the pain subsided from her consciousness. She stood up and felt around the room for her clothes. She could only locate her underwear and tank top in the dark, and she decided that the items would have to suffice for the time being. When she was semi-covered, she walked to the front of the hotel again, passing the mirrored closet, and flipped the light switch near the front door. The room was flooded with a somewhat dim light, but it would suffice for her to locate the hydrogen-peroxide that Phil kept in his gym bag. She looked around the room in search of the black duffle bag, but stopped upon seeing her reflection in the reflective doors of the closet. A small gasp escaped her at the sight of herself. She was a lot more beat up than she had originally thought.<p>

Her bottom lip was a little swollen and there a small split from Phil's lip ring there as well that she hadn't known was even there. The hand-shaped marks on her neck were an angry red color, the right side also shown with a dark purple ring of teeth marks. The wound over her collarbone was the worst by far: each puncture wound had a small ring of purple and yellow around it, and there was dried blood coming down from each hole individually. She twisted and turned delicately in front of the mirror to reveal small yellow-green bruises all down her legs and arms. Tears brimmed in her eyes again and this time she let them flow freely. She looked truly beaten. Some of the bruises were too dark to cover up with makeup, and the gory bite mark was something she'd be hard pressed to hide with all the tank tops and sundresses she liked to wear. Her suddenly deciding to wear long sleeves and turtlenecks would probably seem suspicious to others, namely Barri, which meant that she'd be forced to stay at the hotel again. _This is wrong_, she thought to herself as she ran her fingers lightly over her marred body. She closed her eyes at that thought and walked away from the mirror, walking blindly until she came to the edge of the bed again. She opened her eyes then, wiping the fresh tears from her cheeks only to have new ones form as she looked down at the ruined furniture below her. There was blood all over the stark white bedspread, and it occurred to her that every drop of it belonged to her. _Wrong, _she thought again as she turned away from the mess and sat on the edge of the bed with her back to it, head in her hands. She closed her eyes again and took a deep breath, thinking deeply on the matter at hand.

Phil had hurt her like this many times before, though the areas of damage were not as widely spread as it was this time, and she could always hide the damage easily with a bit of makeup. It unnerved her that he was getting so careless with her. It made her wonder whether or not he actually cared if people saw the ways he was harming her, though she was certain that this was not behavior that he'd like to have broadcasted to the world. It would surely destroy his career, and that was not something she could abide by. The bite mark twinged with pain causing her to wince a bit. She brought her pain down once more before delving back into her thoughts.

The beatings were almost the same every time: he'd yell for a while, harshly beat her, then savagely fuck her until he was just too exhausted to continue. Then he'd leave her there with the evidence of his anger written on her skin while he went off to take a shower or hang out with some friends; anything really that he could do to leave her completely alone and shaking with the pain she felt. Granted, he didn't always do things in that exact order, but each one task was done every time. Her thoughts again drifted to the wrongfulness of the entire situation, and she sighed in frustration at them. This happened after every beating. She'd recognize how incredibly fucked up it all was, then she'd get these ideas of telling people about and getting help or just running away all together. And every time those thoughts and ideas flooded her brain, she'd convince herself out of leaving by telling herself that Phil didn't mean to hurt her or that he was just stressed out over a match and she was helping him in some way with that stress. She'd tell herself over and over again that he would never hurt her unless he had a good reason to, even if he never made that motive clear. And if he did, in fact, make his motives clear, she'd convince herself into agreeing with what he said. _I deserve it, _she'd think. _I need to be punished._ At that, she opened her eyes and stared blankly at the carpet in front of her. It occurred to her quite suddenly how stupid that all sounded, and everything became quite clear to her almost instantly. This whole thing had to stop; she couldn't allow this to continue and escalate until eventually she was so wrapped up in the idiocy of it all that it lead straight to her death. No. Tonight would not be one of those nights that she convinced herself that it was all okay, and she refused to ignore how incredibly wrong this was. Phil claimed to love her yet he managed to beat her down to a bloody mess almost daily for years now. _Fuck that, _she thought to herself. She had to end this here and now. There'd be no more ignoring it, no more excuses, and no more lies. She couldn't stay with her fiancée any longer, not with this violence he inflicted on her. No matter how much she loved Phil, it was clear to her that he didn't love her in the way that he should.

She came out of her thoughts then and back to the world around her with a sense of determination she hadn't felt since she was 16 years old. She lifted her eyes to the bathroom door and listened intently for any sign that Phil would be out to join her soon. She could still hear the water spattering around in the shower, so she stood up from the edge of the bed, ignoring any ounce of pain she felt. She took a few deep breaths and then set out around the room to collect as many of her things as she could and shove them into her canvas back pack. She grabbed a few pairs of jeans, a couple of shirts, her favorite two sundresses, and a few pairs of underwear before grabbing her shiny green iPod with it's matching Skull Candy headphones and her heavily used Mead notebook that carried all of her poetry and a pen. She luckily had her flat iron laid out on the dresser, so she grabbed that as well and shoved it into the pack as well. She collected her other random toiletries from her travel pack and stored those away as well before making sure she had most of what she needed. She was about to close her pack until she noticed Phil's wallet sitting out on the bedside table beside his phone. She glanced over her shoulder in the direction of the bathroom as she flipped open the wallet and removed from it any cash he had in it. Surprisingly, he was carrying close to $700, and she smiled as she folded the bills and folded her hands around them. She walked away from the side table and set her bag on the floor near the door before she ran about the room to pull on her clothes from earlier in the day. She made sure to put her bra on before she made her escape on the off chance she had to run anywhere; running without a bra was not only problematic with her full D-cup breasts, it was quite painful. As she buttoned up her jeans, stuffing the wad of cash in her front pocket, and pulled her socks back on, she began to formulate a rough plan in her head.

She'd need to get out of the hotel as fast as she could so that Phil couldn't find her when he realized she was gone. She could probably make it to a high traffic street and hitch hike her way to the next city. Then she'd need to call someone for help when she was out of harm's way. Ramona racked her brain for anybody she knew that wouldn't let Phil in on her whereabouts as she wrenched her boots back onto her feet. None of her friends from back in Chicago would probably do anything as she stopped talking to most of them many years ago. She cursed under her breath as she stood up again. At this point, most of the people she knew were associates of Phil's and most all of them were likely to at least tell him that she was with them. _Everyone except for Barri, _she thought suddenly before rationalizing how easily she'd be caught with him. Without another plan, she decided to at least call the man when she figured out what exactly she was going to do. She immediately went back to the bedside table for Phil's phone and scrolled through the contacts for Barri's number. She searched around for a scrap of paper, but found none. Instead, she grabbed one of the hotel pens to write the number on her arm. She scribbled the number down quickly just as Phil shut the shower off in the bathroom. She stalled for just a moment as panic rose up within her upon hearing him throw back the shower curtain and step out onto the tiled floor. She found herself considering calling the whole thing off, before she remembered exactly what would happen to her when Phil found out she'd thought about leaving in the first place. She shook her head, bringing herself back to her senses, and exited out of Phil's contacts before dropping the phone onto the bed. She made a run for the front door of the hotel room, quickly sweeping her pack up onto her shoulders, just as Phil opened the bathroom door. She didn't look back as she wrapped her hand firmly around the handle of the door and wrenched it open, taking off quickly down the hallway. She fought down the feeling of pain growing within her aching muscles as she sprinted down the carpeted hallway and rounded a corner towards the elevators. She could vaguely hear the sound of the hotel room door opening and Phil screaming her name, but she didn't look back, she wouldn't dare look back. She was prepared to round the next corner in order to get to the stairwell until the dinging sound of the elevator caught her attention. The doors were just opening up and decided to take a chance on the elevator. She picked up speed as she sprinted towards the spreading doors at full speed, not noticing the tall being taking a step out of the wood paneled shaft. She saw the man far too late and found herself colliding full force with him, shoving him backwards into the elevator on his ass with her falling in right on top of him. She began to quickly utter her apologies to him though she was honestly barely paying him any attention. Ramona rolled off of him and looked behind her, smiling in satisfaction as the elevator doors slid closed. She collapsed down onto the floor of the elevator with a triumphant laugh, smiling at the ceiling as the elevator worked its way down the floors of the hotel and far away from Phil.

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><p>Chwaer fach= little sister (in Welsh)<p>

Okay, so what do you guys think of this? Any and all input will be appreciated


	2. Promise Me

A/N: Okay. Sorry for the wait, dear readers. Work has been hectic, I had a little bit of a problem with my living situation, and school has begun yet again. But those are just excuses. Anyways, here is chapter 2 of Sing It Out. Consider yourself warned, this fic's title is likely to change before the story ends. There's a small chance that it won't, but it might. Okay. Thank you to those who read my story and found it worthy enough to add to your subscription and/or alerts. To any of you that are reading, please feel free to review. I'd like to get a lot more feedback from my audience. Thank you

-PQTS

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><p><em><strong>I've taken a leave of absence<strong>_

_**I've taken a leave of the senses**_

_**And there's nothing in the world that can change this**_

_**I can't change this; No regrets**_

_**-Straight Line Stitch, "Promise Me"**_

Jake waited rather impatiently as the elevator worked its way down the levels of the hotel. He couldn't quite understand why a hotel this expensive **wouldn****'****t **have an ice maker on each floor. Now he had to go down 3 floors to the ice machine to fill up the world's smallest bucket so he could chill the bottle of wine Michael had given him as a gift after their win. He wasn't much of a wine guy, but he'd take anything he could get to help dull the ache in his body that night.

He ran a hand through his short blonde hair as the lift began to slow down, signifying that it was close to the 8th floor. A small sigh escaped him as the doors of the elevator slid open to reveal the wide hallway behind them. He barely took one step out of the elevator before noticing the small woman racing towards him. His cornflower blue eyes went wide as he dropped the ice bucket and raised both of his hands to catch her as she barreled into him. The force with which she struck him sent them both flying into the depths of the elevator with Jake landing hard on his ass and the small, ebony haired girl falling in right on top of him. She wasted no time in rolling off of him as she quietly muttered her apologies to him, her eyes looking back out at the hallway. Jake growled in frustration as the elevator doors slid closed near his feet; he hadn't gotten his ice yet. The small woman huffed out a laugh before collapsing down beside him, causing him to look down at her in confusion. At first glance, all Jake noticed was how utterly beautiful she was with her short straight black hair, her full lips, and big brown eyes. Based on her skin tone, Jake could only assume that she was some race other than white; her skin was a lovely light brown color, like the color of coffee when you added a bit of cream to it. Her body was just as exquisite as her face, he noticed, as he took in her curved hips, ample breasts, and perfect ass. It was as he noticed these details about her that he saw the split in her lip, the gash on her chest, and the myriad of bruises all over her body. He let out a small gasp of shock as he recognized the clear signs of a beating on her. He brought his eyes up to hers to find her looking back at him with a look of deep worry on her face. Questions flooded his mind and, before he could think better of it, he was speaking the most obvious of those question aloud to her.

"What the hell happened to you?" he asked, though a bit more harshly than he'd intended to. Pain flashed in the depths of her dark brown eyes before she turned her gaze away from him, rolled onto her knees, and lifted herself from the elevator floor. Jake quickly followed suit as she began to run a hand through her short tresses and smooth a hand along her black tank top. As she made those motions, Jake was overwhelmed with the sensation of recognition. He was certain that he'd seen this woman somewhere before, but his mind could not place where. Ignoring the sensation of familiarity, he turned to face her, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What happened to you, Miss?" he asked, determined to get some answers out of her. She clenched her jaw, but made no motions to look at him or answer him. Instead, she kept her eyes trained on the digital readout of the numbers above the door. Jake glanced at it momentarily, noting that they were nearing the 2nd floor.

"I'm sorry for running into you." she said suddenly, her tone clearly one of dismissal. She was ignoring his questions, which irritated Jake. He only wanted to help her, but she didn't seem to want to accept his help. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Look, if you don't tell me who did this to you, I'm gonna have to call the cops." he stated firmly. He silently cursed the lisp he carried; he really couldn't be taken that seriously with a lisp. The girl let out a frustrated sigh before she whipped around to face him, her bangs flopping over to cover her left eye.

"I get that you're trying to help me or whatever, but I don't need your fucking help." she said, glaring up at him through her thick, black lashes as she violently shoved her bangs back. Now that she was facing him, he was hit with the sudden realization of where he'd seen her. He'd seen her at almost every one of the arenas the Raw roster had been to and even the lobby of some of the hotels, though he'd only ever seen her in passing. From what he could remember, she always seemed to be standing with the members of The Nexus. She was always standing exceptionally close to one member in particular.

"You're CM Punk's girl, aren't you?" he asked curiously as he started to mull over the information in his head. Her look of frustration immediately morphed into one of utter terror and she quickly turned away from him again. Her reaction to his inquiry coupled with the obvious signs of abuse all over her body raised another question in his head, and he did not even try to keep it inside as the elevator began to slow down again.

"Is he the one that did this to you?" he asked in a flat tone as he gestured to the gore on her chest, making it more of a statement than a question. Her body visibly tensed at the question, her breathing stopping momentarily as well. She didn't look at him. In fact, it seemed that she was purposefully avoiding his gaze. Jake was as certain as he could be that his suspicions were correct if her reaction was anything to go by. He decided right then that he **had** to help this woman; he wasn't the type of man to just sit idly by while someone was being hurt, especially not a lady. Not if there was anything he could to do to stop it. He looked at her again, prepared to offer his services to her, just as the elevator doors split open to reveal the front lobby. A bright smile split her face as she stepped out of the elevator and away from Jake. _Maybe __it__'__s __for __the __best, _he thought though he had the strong feeling that it wasn't a true statement. He took a deep breath and reached over to press the button for his floor, deciding that this stranger wasn't his responsibility. He swallowed down his feelings of worry as he watched her make her way to the front entrance doors of the hotel. _It__'__s __for __the __best,_ he reminded himself as he tore his eyes away from her retreating form, choosing to look at the front desk instead. His eyes widened at what he saw there.

CM Punk was speaking very animatedly and quickly to one of the female receptionists there. He appeared to be angry about their conversation with the way he was flailing his arms about. Jake quickly looked back to the black haired woman, wondering whether she had noticed the brunette as well. Jake's stomach began to flutter with nerves when he realized that she had not seen Punk. The path she was taking to the doors would cause her to walk right into Punk's line of vision, and he did not want to find out what would happen to her is she was caught.

"Hey lady!" he called, though not loud enough for Punk to hear him. The woman appeared to be sighing, but she did not make any moves to turn back to him. He let out a growl of frustration as he stepped through the now narrowing space between the elevator doors and took off after her. He kept a close watch on Punk as he came up behind her, grabbed the back of her pack, and yanked her backwards. He wrapped his arms around her to stop her from crashing into him, making sure not to put any pressure on her bruises.

"What the hell?" she exclaimed as Jake placed her back on her feet and began to push her away towards the elevators. He kept a firm grip on her bag and held her in place in front of him, shielding her from view with his large form. When they reached the elevators, he reached past her and pressed the button, ignoring the many obscenities she shot his way as he did so. He leaned into her on his way back, bringing his face close to hers but not invasively so.

"Will you just shut up and be quiet for two fucking seconds? Punk is over at the front desk, probably looking for you and he'll see you if you keep drawing attention to us." he whispered to her. She immediately halted in her struggles and nodded once, signifying that she understood what he was saying. Jake released his hold on her and stood to his full height once more, casting a glance over his shoulder in Punk's direction. The dark haired man seemed to have finally finished his conversation with the receptionist and was turning to leave. There was a dark look plastered on the man's bearded face as he glanced around the lobby before taking a step away from the desk. Panic flooded through Jake as he realized that Punk was heading right towards them, presumably to get to the elevators. He whipped his head back around, reaching forward to press the 'UP' button once more. _I __should __have __taken __the __fucking __stairs, _he thought as he watched the scale above the golden elevator doors. It seemed that she had sensed his sudden change in emotion as she glanced back at him with a worried look on her face. He gazed back down into her shining eyes, wondering momentarily how anyone could harm something quite as beautiful as she, before he looked back over his shoulder. Relief flooded through him as he saw Phil walk past them to the stairwell. Almost simultaneously, the elevator doors opened up before them to reveal its empty lift. The beautiful girl practically ran into the elevator with Jake following close behind her. Jake gently ushered her over to the side of the elevator that couldn't be seen from outside of the lift and then hit the button for the 11th floor. For good measure, he tapped the 'CLOSE DOORS' button, smiling to himself as the command was followed. He let out a heavy sigh as the elevator began to rise, stepping back until his back was pressed against the wall there. He closed his eyes as he let his head fall back and rest against the wall as well, delving into his thoughts as he ran his hands over his face.

He could not believe that he was doing this, nor could he understand **why** exactly he was doing this. He didn't know this girl. He'd only seen this girl a handful of times around some of the arenas and hotels the roster stayed in. He didn't even know her name, her age…nothing, so why was he so gung-ho to help her? There was certainly something about her, about her situation, that drove him to act so impulsively which was not something Jake made a habit of doing. He was all about meticulous planning and schedules; he was not one to decide to do something only moments before it happened. It brought on unnecessary stress, stress that he did everything in his power to avoid. Still, something about her that made him just throw caution completely to the wind and swoop in to save her from what he was sure was an entirely too dangerous situation for someone to handle alone. It briefly crossed his mind that her looks could have contributed to his willingness to play a role in all of this, but he quickly dispelled the thought. He would never take advantage of someone in her situation; he was a better man than that. _I __guess __it __doesn__'__t __matter __what __it __is __about __her __that __makes __me __want __to __help, _he thought to himself. _I __decided __to __do __it __all __ready. _He opened his eyes at that thought, allowing them to adjust to the light again before turning his gaze to her. He was surprised to find her looking back at him with her arms crossed over her chest. She had a curious look on her face as she looked him up and down, surely analyzing him. She let her eyes scan him one last time before she ran a shaky hand through her bangs and locked her eyes with his.

"You're Jack Swagger, right?" she asked.

"That's just my ring name. It's Jake, actually. Jake Hager." he responded. She nodded her understanding to him before smiling slightly.

"I'm Ramona." she said quietly. Jake lifted himself from the elevator wall and extended his large hand out to her. She hesitated only a moment before reaching out and shaking his hand.

"It's nice to meet you." he said with a polite smile.

"You too." she said before retracting her hand and crossing her arms again. They grew silent again, so Jake turned his attention to the digital readout above the door, checking their progress. They were just coming on the 7th floor, so they only had four more floors to go.

"Jake?" she inquired, drawing his attention back to her. She looked up him with an air of nervousness, her hands coming together in front of her to tug at one another.

"Yeah?" he replied in a soft tone, hoping to calm her down.

"Um, where are you taking me?" she asked, dropping her gaze to her fidgeting hands as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth to nibble at. She suddenly seemed very nervous again, and he couldn't fault her for this. Aside from now knowing each other's names, they were still strangers to one another. Jake cleared his throat a bit and offered her a small smile.

"I figured I'd take you to my hotel room for a while so we can get you cleaned up. Then, we should figure out what you're gonna do tonight." he said. She nodded to him, her brow furrowing a bit as she thought something over before she looked back up at him with a very blank expression. She dropped her hands back to her sides and stood up a little straighter as she looked at him, causing Jake to feel a little nervous then.

"And that's all?" she asked, her tone very serious. He nodded to her without hesitation, having already gone over this in his own head.

"That's all." he replied in an even tone, willing her to believe him. She scrutinized him for a couple moments more before sending a single nod in his direction.

"Thank you." she said in a voice barely louder than a whisper. The elevator began to slow, so Jake simply nodded to her again and began to shuffle his way to the front of the lift.

The elevator came to a jerky halt, making Jake's stomach feel a little fluttery. The doors split open slowly to reveal a hallway that exactly resembled every other one in the entire hotel. Ramona stepped forward in order to exit the shaft but halted when Jake held up a hand to her. She looked up at him with questioning eyes, but he ignored her gaze as he leaned out of the elevator to survey the area around them. When he was satisfied with the emptiness of the hall, he looked down at her with a smile and gestured with his head for her to follow him.

He stepped out into the hallway and set off in the direction of his room, stopping only when he reached the door labeled '1115'. He could sense Ramona standing close behind him yet far enough back to not be a nuisance. He reached into the pocket of his sweats, fishing around in them for a moment before pulling out his key card. He slipped the card into the slot, waiting for the light to go from red to green, and then opened the door. He reached in and flipped on the light before he pressed himself up against the door, holding it open for her to enter first. She smiled at him as she moved past him into the room. He surveyed the area around the hotel room one last time before stepping into the hotel room and closing the door behind him. He made sure to set the latch on the door and then turned back to Ramona with a mind to discuss her plan for the night.

Ramona had walked further into the room, her eyes taking in its interior. She seemed to avoid her own reflection as she moved past the mirrored closet, but Jake understood the action. The obvious harm on her body was probably too much to bear, and she had to be aware of it. She had gone back to playing with her hands, though Jake now realized that she was twisting and pulling at a ring on her left hand. Her teeth had begun to worry her bottom lip so fiercely that he feared she may tear it open. Jake cleared his throat, attracting her attention once more. She turned to him with a questioning look, her body immediately ceasing in her obvious nervous ticks.

"What's next?" he asked, taking a few steps into the room to stand just in front of her. Ramona sighed heavily and crossed her arms along her stomach, almost hugging herself.

"Honestly, I don't really know. I just left with the hope of at least hiding out until the whole roster was gone tomorrow. I was gonna figure it out from there." she admitted. Jake nodded to her as he finally understood how frazzled she must be. She seemed to have left on an absolute whim, and now she had nowhere to go.

"You don't have any family or friends you could call?" he suggested. She shrugged at him.

"Well, I have friends I could **call **but not friends I could stay with because of how quickly Phil would find me...Hell, half my friends from back home in Chicago probably wouldn't even take my calls. I haven't spoken to them in so long. Why would they?" she wondered aloud with a stony expression.

"No family?" he asked again, hoping for something to work with so he could stop worrying about this stranger. Ramona lowered her head a moment before looking back up at Jake with an expression of deep sadness.

"No. There's no family." she replied quietly. "Phil's the only one I've had since I was 17 years old." she added. Her tone seemed hollow, empty even. He recognized quickly that this was a sensitive subject and chose to move on from it. He went back to thinking, hoping that he could find some sort of solution.

Jake couldn't kick the feeling of responsibility he felt towards this girl. It was his own fault really; he'd involved himself in her problems the moment he refused to just let her walk out those entrance doors, and now he had needed to follow through on that choice. Jake took a deep breath, realizing that there was only one thing he could really do.

"If there's no one who can help you, then you need to stay here. At least for the night until we can figure out what you can do tomorrow." he said. Ramona looked at him as if he'd just suggested something completely bat shit fucking crazy before she began to violently shake her head at him. Jake clenched his jaw at her, not wanting to deal with her stubbornness at this time. It was getting late and he was exhausted from his match earlier. He was in no mood for this.

"Why not?" he asked, his irritation leaking through as he spoke.

"I just can't do that, Jake. I don't want to impose." she explained. Jake rolled his eyes at her and put his hands on his hips.

"I wouldn't offer if it was gonna be a problem." he stated. A small smile escaped her.

"It's nice of you to offer and all, but I'll be okay." she said. Jake shook his head at her.

"No dice. You're staying here." he said, making sure to emphasize the finality of the statement. She looked up at him, her mind clearly searching for something to say to get her out of staying. Suddenly, she shot her arm out and gestured to the room.

"There's nowhere for me to sleep." she said triumphantly, thinking that she'd gotten him with that statement. Jake leaned against the TV stand next to him and quickly surveyed the room. There was a single king sized bed placed directly across from him, a desk to his right with his MacBook set up on top of it, and the bathroom in its own little section behind him. He looked back at her with a wide smile when an idea hit him.

"You take the bed. I'll take the pillows you don't use and call for an extra blanket to sleep on the floor." he replied. She looked at him sternly then.

"No." she said firmly. Jake rolled his eyes again.

"It's the perfect idea! We can both stay in here without having to share the bed." he stated in an annoyed tone.

"You have to wrestle tomorrow, so you shouldn't be sleeping on the floor." she argued. Jake opened his mouth to respond, but she held a hand up to stop him.

"At least let me take the floor." she said in a soft tone. "I really don't think you'll get the rest you need if you sleep on the floor. You had a brutal match tonight, and you need to rest." she added. Jake cocked an eyebrow at her.

"So you'll stay if I agree to sleep in the bed?" he inquired. She let out an annoyed sigh, but nodded.

"**Only **if you sleep in the bed." she responded. He gazed down at her for a long while, wanting very badly to argue with her once more. He wouldn't feel right knowing that he had her sleeping on the floor while there was a bed in the room that **he****'****d **be sleeping in. Still, he'd have to agree if he wanted her to stay.

"Fine." he said in a defeated tone. She smiled up at him before sliding off her backpack and turning her back to him. Jake made his way over to the desk where his laptop was set up. He decided to check his emails and handle his business while she settled in. He scrolled through his inbox, paying special attention to the few emails from Vince McMahon and the Raw writing team. After clearing out the useless emails, he opened one up from the writing team and began to read through it, seeing just what they had planned for he and Cole the next day. He was silent as he read and was completely immersed in the email's contents until Ramona let out a frustrated sigh from beside him.

"Fuck." she hissed under her breath, drawing his attention back to her. She had her back to him as she knelt down on the floor, looking at the contents of her bag she had sprawled out on the floor in front of her. She had her hands placed on her hips, and her agitation was visible in the tensing of her shoulders.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he shifted in his seat to face her. She turned to him at the sound of his voice, a look of frustration apparent on her face.

"Nothing. I just forgot my pajamas like an idiot." she said, running a hand through her hair. Jake got to his feet and walked over to his suitcase.

"You can borrow some of mine." he said as he dug through his bag, searching for something he thought might be able to fit her small frame. She was silent from behind him, but he didn't mind that too much; he didn't feel like arguing with her anymore tonight. Jake pulled out a pair of black basketball shorts as well as a plain, black wife beater. He examined them for a moment, assessing whether or not they'd fit her, before he handed them to her with a small smile. She smiled back at him as a beautiful red color tinted her cheeks.

"Thank you." she said quietly as she turned back to her things across the floor. Jake went back to the desk to read his emails as she gathered a few things up from her pile and set them on top of the clothes he'd lent her. She set those items aside and then put all of her other things back into her bag. She set her pack off to the side and swept up the things she'd set aside before she turned back to him.

"Would you mind if I took a shower? I kind of want to get rid of all of this blood." she said.

"Of course I don't mind." he replied without looking away from his emails. She started to make her way to the bathroom and then suddenly halted.

"Can you do me a favor and write something down for me?" she asked as she came to his side and held her left arm out in front of her. Jake nodded and grabbed ahold of a pen and paper. She read to him a series of numbers that Jake quickly recognized as a phone number.

"Whose number is this?" he asked as he set the paper off to the side and turned to look at her again.

"A friend's." she said semi-cryptically before she walked towards the bathroom again. Though Jake wondered why she wouldn't tell him more, he decided not to push her as she stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Jake waited a moment, waiting until her heard the sound of the shower running, before he let out a tired sigh and covered his face with his hands. He found himself wondering again why he was doing this but fought those thoughts down again, telling himself again that what was done was done. He sat up straight and took a deep breath before he reached for the hotel phone beside him, punched in the digits designated for the front desk, and then held the receiver to his ear. A very kind woman answered the phone and took his request for two extra blankets. Their conversation was brief, much to Jake's liking. After hanging up the phone, he went back to his busy work and waited for one of the hotel employees to bring up the blankets. Not even 5 minutes later, there was a knock at the door signifying someone's arrival.

"Well, that was fast." Jake muttered to himself as he crossed the room. Without bothering to look out of the peephole, he slid back the chain latch and opened the door. What he found on the other side was mortifying to say the least.

"Hey, Swagger." CM Punk said, his sage green eyes blazing with irritation and rage while the rest of his face was made to look pleasant. His tone was friendly, and Jake smiled down politely at the smaller man.

"Hey man. What's up?" he asked, hoping that he was keeping the nervousness out his voice and making his tone light. He trained his ears to the sound of the shower running; he needed to be aware of Ramona's whereabouts just in case she decided to reappear at this exact moment. Punk let out a troubled sigh and ran a hand through his dark brown hair.

"I was just wondering if you had seen my fiancée? She's about 5'6", short black hair, big brown eyes, brown skin, probably wearing a lot of black? Her name is Ramona Perry." he said, describing Ramona to a tee. Jake put on a look of deep thought, hoping that he looked convincing enough. He turned his blue gaze back to the man before him, offering him an apologetic look, before shaking his head.

"No. I don't think so, man." he replied. A muscled twitched in Punk's jaw, but he forced a smile onto his face.

"All right. Thanks anyways, man." the brunette said before turning on his heel and walking stiffly away. Jake stepped back into his room and closed the door, letting out a sigh of relief as he slumped against the door. That was a close call, one that was way too close for Jake's comfort. The encounter with Punk had brought his nerves to an all-time high, and he was nearly shaking with the stress. He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to collect himself, nearly jumping out of his skin when someone knocked on the door again. He quickly composed himself before wearily opening the door once more. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a young man carrying a stack of blankets in his arms. Jake gratefully accepted the blankets offered to him and thanked the smaller man for his assistance before tipping the man for his troubles. They ended their moment of interaction as Jake moved back into his room and closed the door, sliding the safety lock back into place. He placed the blankets on the edge the bed before he went back to his desk to wind down and finally finish with his emails.

After a short time of silence, Ramona emerged from the bathroom toweling off her wet hair. She seemed much fresher and relaxed as she smiled at Jake on way her past him the bed. The puffiness of her eyes had gone down, Jake noticed, and she had managed to clean her wound up pretty well. Though he tried his best to mind his own business, he couldn't help but glance back at her as she sat down on the side of the bed and shook her hair out a bit. Her hair was still quite damp and now slightly wavy as it clung to her cheeks and forehead. He watched her raise her delicate fingers to sweep the wet strands from her skin and tuck them back behind her ears. Jake found himself astounded by the fact that he found her even more beautiful than he had before, not knowing that something like that was even possible. At that thought, Jake tore his attention away from her, finding himself far too invested in her very apparent beauty. He reminded himself that he needed to remain impartial in this whole situation. _I __can__'__t __make __this __personal, _he thought. _I __can__'__t __help __her __if __I __do._

"Jake?" Ramona said, breaking through his ministrations. He took a silent yet deep breath and turned to face her, finding her gazing down at the wound on her chest. She looked up at him with wide eyes, her worry evident within their dark depths.

"Should we clean this with something else? I did my best in the shower, but…I just don't want it to get infected, you know?" she said quietly. He nodded to her before getting up to retrieve his first aid kit from his bag. He grabbed the bulky, white box before he walked over to where she was seated, coming down onto one knee in front of her. He balanced the kit on his upright knee and popped it open, removing from it the small bottle of disinfectant as well as cotton balls, gauze, and medical tape. He soaked one of the cotton balls in disinfectant and looked up at her.

"Ready?" he asked with a small smile. Her eyes were full of nervousness and worry, but she nodded to him nonetheless. He smiled wider, hoping to calm her with kindness, before pointing to the strap of the wife beater he'd loaned her that was covering part of the bite.

"Pull the strap down a little, please." he requested. Wordlessly, she slipped the strap down over her shoulder, revealing to him the entirety of the teeth marks and the smooth, caramel plane of her shoulder. Jake winced when he saw the wound in full for the first time that night. It was worse than he thought despite the fact that the damage was not as bad as it truly could be. Each individual puncture wound sank deep through her flesh, almost to the muscle. It had stopped bleeding, which was a very good indication of how well it would heal, but it would certainly take some time. Jake looked back up at her and tapped his free hand on his shoulder.

"Put your hand here and squeeze if it hurts." he instructed. He could tell that she was nervous, but she did as she was told and placed her right hand on his left shoulder. He let her position her hand comfortably before he leaned in and swiped the soaked cotton ball over the top row of teeth marks. She hissed in pain and clenched her fingers into Jake's shoulder. He watched as the gash began to bubble up, indicating to him that this cleaning was a good idea, before he looked up at her once more. Her eyes were clenched shut, her jaw clenched tight enough to cause the muscle there to jump and twitch.

"Should I stop?" he asked her in a concerned tone. She shook her head at him.

"No, no. I'm okay. It just…it fucking burns." she said through clenched teeth. He waited a moment for her grip to loosen on his shoulder before he brought the cotton ball over the bottom half of the gash. She reacted the same way as before, and again he waited before running the disinfectant over the entire wound again. He repeated the action of swiping and waiting until eventually it didn't bubble anymore and she was finally able to relax. When that happened, he set the damp cotton ball off to the side and used a small piece of gauze to wipe away the small amount of blood that had sprung up from the wound. He set that aside as well and then began to tear strips of medical tape from the roll, sticking them to his knee so he could easily grab them when he needed to. He then lifted two sheets of fresh gauze and laid them over her wound before gently yet firmly taping them down to her soft skin. When he finished his work, he snapped the first aid kit closed and took the used materials in his hand to dispose of them.

"All done." he said as he stood up, towering over the woman on the bed. She quickly assessed his work before smiling brightly up at him, causing Jake to blush a bit.

"Thank you, Jake." she said sweetly. He smiled bashfully back at her before he walked away from her to throw the soiled medical materials away. As he looked back at her, he caught a sight of her slim fingers sliding the strap of her tank top back up over her shoulder. His thoughts immediately began to stray to her appearance again, so he sat back down at the desk and quickly opened up his web browser to occupy his mind. He ran a hand through his limp blonde hair, as he typed in some mundane subject to keep his mind occupied for a while.

A small amount of time passed between them in relative silence. The only sound that really existed between them was the sound of Jake's long fingers tapping the keys of his laptop and the sound of Ramona shuffling around behind him. Jake found that he rather enjoyed the silence; it gave him a chance to keep his thoughts away from Ramona and on subjects a bit more…appropriate. However, all things must come to end, and Jake found himself yawning for what seemed like the millionth time. Deciding it was time to call it a night, he closed down his active windows and scrubbed a hand over his face. He glanced at the time wondering suddenly if it was too early to call it quits for the night. Much to his surprise, it was already 11:30 at night. With that knowledge in mind, he shut down his laptop and turned to face Ramona, prepared to inform her of his plan. He found her seated on the floor at the foot of the bed atop a makeshift bed of blankets. She had her knees pulled in close to her body, her feet planted flat on the floor, with a notebook resting across the tops of her knees. She had her arm lifted at what Jake thought to be an awkward angle as she scrawled something down in looping cursive handwriting. From this distance, Jake could see that she was writing in verse form, and he wondered whether she was writing poetry or a song. A small sigh of content escaped her lips, the corners of her full lips turning up slightly as she finished one line and moved onto the next. She seemed to be in a state of peace, and he wondered whether or not he should interrupt her at the time. As if she could hear his mental struggle, she lifted her gaze from her writing and up to meet his blue eyes. Jake flushed a bit a being caught watching her, but fought down the blush and cleared his throat.

"Um…it's getting kinda late and I have to wake up early, so…I think it's time for me to go to bed." he stammered out. Ramona smirked at him and nodded.

"It is getting late." she added as she dog eared the page she was on. She unfolded her legs from her body and leaned forward to slip her notebook and pen back into her bag, setting the heavy pack aside. Jake padded his way over to the bed, fighting down the wave of guilt that washed over him from having her sleep on the floor, and slid between the thick blankets. He situated his pillows and blankets before finally settling into them, casting his eyes down to look at Ramona.

"Do you have enough pillows and blankets?" he asked, willing to give up what he had to for the sake of her comfort. She rolled her eyes at him, but smiled politely.

"I'm fine, Jake. Just turn the light off and get some sleep. You've got lots of traveling to do." she said before rolling over onto her side and turning her back to him. Jake smiled a bit before reaching over to the bedside table and clicking off the light.

Again, silence washed over them. Jake closed his eyes to the darkness of the room, hoping to drift off sooner rather than later. As usual, he tuned into the sounds around him to help lull him off to sleep. There wasn't much to hear that night; all he could hear was the rhythmic whispers of his own breathing and Ramona's. He decided that the soft sounds would simply have to do, so he focused on Ramona's breaths to lull him off to sleep.

Based on the pattern of her breathing, she was obviously still awake but would be drifting off to sleep soon. He hoped that she would sleep soon and sleep well; she certainly needed it. She had to be exhausted from all the crying she seemed to have done, not to mention the obvious abuse. All of her injuries looked very fresh and new. He wondered then if this was something that happened to her often. He thought back to the handful of times he'd seen her at any of the venues. In the handful of memories that he had of her she had always seemed fine, normal. She was always smiling and talking to the people around her, sharing stories and laughing heartily at times. His memory of her was not of a woman who was suffering. She honestly seemed happy. _But __isn__'__t __that __the __point? _he thought to himself. She couldn't have very well lasted this long if she'd gone around looking terrified and sad all the time. No. She'd have had to pretend like nothing was wrong, like she and Punk were happy together. So really, this could have been going on for months or even years and no one would have ever known.

Jake let out a sad sigh at that thought, opening his eyes to the dark room. He let his eyes adjust to the darkness before turning his gaze to the alarm clock on the table beside him. Somehow, it managed to be 12:10 A.M. all ready. Jake knew then that sleep would not come easy to him, not with so much on his mind that night. He sighed again before looking down at the mass on the floor he knew to be Ramona. She was definitely asleep now, much to Jake's relief and partially to his dismay. Guilt washed over him again at making her sleep on the floor, and he found that he couldn't fight the feeling down this time. He couldn't let her sleep on the floor, especially not in the condition she was in. With a sense of determination, he threw back the blankets laid over him, swung his long legs over the side of the bed, and then made his way over to Ramona. He came down to his knees beside her, making sure to keep his distance from her, before he reached a hand out and shook her gently. She moaned a bit before rubbing a hand across her eyes and opening them blearily to look at Jake. He smiled at her as she sat up to look more closely at him.

"Jake?" she asked in a sleep thickened voice. She looked at him curiously for a moment, waiting for him to speak.

"I want you to sleep in the bed." he said in quite, but firm voice. She ran a hand through her hair before shaking her head at him.

"No, Jake. We already talked about this. You sleep in the bed, I sleep on the floor. That was the deal. Now go back to sleep." she said as she attempted to lie back down onto to her makeshift bed. Jake threw an arm out and caught her mid-descent, stopping her from lying down.

"I won't be able to sleep if you don't." he stated, hoping that he could convince her without much argument. Ramona sat up again and sighed before she stood up and made her way over to the bed.

"All right, but only because I'm too tired to argue with you right now." she said as she plopped down onto the bed. Jake rolled his eyes at her as he laid himself down on the floor. _So __stubborn, _he thought as he pulled the blankets over himself and settled in.

"Good night." she mumbled out before quickly falling back to sleep.

"Night." Jake replied.


	3. This Fire Burns

A/N: Sorry for the long break between postings. All sorts of junk popped up between then and now, but that's no excuse really. Anyways, here is chapter three of "Sing It Out". I've decided not to change the story's title as it fits perfectly for what this fic is all about. For anyone who was wondering, yes the title does come from the Switchfoot song of the same title. Anyways, this chapter isn't as productive as the other two in the way that it's mostly filled with dialogue. The first few chapters are going to move a little slowly and then things are going to pick up really fast. Consider yourself warned. Oh, just to get this out of the way, any translations I include at the bottom of the page are going to be for Welsh and Welsh only. I don't anticipate the use of any other languages from here on out, but I'll let you know if I do. So…without further ado, here is chapter 3 of "Sing It Out". Please feel free to read and review as it is greatly appreciated.

-PQTS

* * *

><p><em><strong>Turn away from yesterday<strong>_

_**Tomorrow's in my eyes**_

_**Nevermore to be held down by the wings of history**_

_**Nevermore to be cast aside**_

_**This day is mine**_

_**-Killswitch Engage, "This Fire Burns"**_

Ramona awoke very slowly to the soft sound of Jake's voice. Without opening her eyes, she furrowed her brow in confusion at the sound of his voice; he sounded distant, muffled even, as though he were speaking through a wall. She opened her eyes and let them adjust to the dull darkness of the room before she peered lazily around the room in search of the blonde. Her gaze halted on the cracked door that led to the bathroom. She listened carefully and confirmed that Jake was there speaking quietly to someone.

"No, sir…I understand…Yes…Yes, sir…I understand. Thank you. I'll contact you when I land. Bye." he said. There was a small moment of silence before Jake emerged from the bathroom staring down at his phone with a look of slight irritation. He sighed and looked up, a slow smile coming to his face when he realized that she was awake.

"Good morning." he said politely. Ramona rolled onto her back and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Morning." she croaked out as she ran her hand through her hair. Jake moved further into the room and sat down in the desk chair, tossing his phone aside. He clicked on the desk lamp and filled the room with a soft, white light that caused Ramona to squint her. When her eyes adjusted to the brightness, she noticed that Jake was dressed in a loose fitting black V-neck, a pair of jeans, and a pair of black tennis shoes. His hay-colored hair was gelled up into his usual hair style, so the locks no longer laid across his forehead. He had a large, expensive-looking watch on his left wrist that he glanced at before looking back at her. _It __must __be __time __for __me __to __get __going __then,_ she thought as she tried to rouse herself a little more.

"How'd you sleep?" he asked. Ramona yawned as she pulled herself up into a sitting position.

"I slept fine." she said. She winced a bit at the spark of pain she felt in her muscles but managed to work past it. Jake regarded her with a worried expression.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his tone laced with concern. She smiled weakly at him and nodded.

"Yeah. I'm just really sore." she explained as she began to bend and stretch her limbs. Each motion was quite painful; she nearly hissed at each one, but it made the next movement significantly easier. The bite wound on her chest never ceased to twinge, but she managed to easily ignore it.

"Well…I don't know if you're straightedge like Punk, but I have something you can take for that." he offered. Ramona snapped her head up at him, her jaw involuntarily clenching shut as she began to vigorously shake her head at him.

"No. I'm fine. I don't need to take anything." she said as she threw back the comforter from her form. Jake watched her with a look of confusion, but she ignored him and tried to focus her attention on moving her battered body out of bed. She cautiously swung her legs over the edge of the bed and took a few deep breaths before standing. The pain of such a simple movement made her want to cry out, but she couldn't do that with Jake watching over her. She needed to be strong enough to at least get to the bathroom so Jake wouldn't worry about her anymore than he already had. She bit down on the inside of her cheek as she tried to work past her pain and make her way to the bathroom, but the pain proved to be too much. Her legs gave out beneath her, and she felt herself falling to the carpet beneath her. She closed her eyes and braced herself for impact but was surprised when a pair of strong arms swept her up before she could get too close to the ground. She opened her eyes and looked up at Jake as he carried her bridal-style back to the bed, placing her onto the center of the mattress delicately. He knelt down beside her and looked her over, his eyes shining with worry as he did so.

"I'm giving you something for the pain. Don't move." he said as he stood up and walked back to his suitcase. He rummaged around in it for a moment before pulling out a pill bottle and reading the label on it carefully. Seemingly satisfied with whatever words he'd seen there, he opened the bottle and tapped out a single, white pill. He set the bottle to the side and cracked the oblong pill in half before dispensing one half back into the bottle and closing it. He tossed the rattling container back into his suitcase before reaching back into it and producing an unopened water bottle from its depths. He crossed the room to the bed again and held out the pill and water to her.

"Here," he said as she took both items from him. She looked down at the broken pill in her hand, feeling sick at the sight of it.

"What it is?" she asked in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

"It's half of a Vicodin." he responded. She nodded mutely at him, her mouth feeling so dry that she couldn't bring herself to speak anymore. Instead, she continued to stare down at the pill as she rolled it back and forth along her palm.

She didn't know what to do. She knew that taking the pill would help for the time being, but she didn't know if that was all it would do to her. She hadn't taken any form of medication since she was 18 years old, and for very good reason. Though she'd been clean for about 9 years, she didn't know that she could trust herself to simply take this one half of a very strong pain killer and then move on through her day without wanting more. She swallowed thickly at that thought before looking back up at Jake sadly.

"I can't take this." she said to him. He looked at her in confusion.

"Why not? It's just a Vicodin, I swear. I'm not trying to drug you or anything." he said in a slightly hurt tone. She smiled apologetically at him and shook her head.

"I know that, and I believe you. That's not why I can't take it…it's just me, Jake. I can't trust myself enough to take it." she explained. The look on his face told her that he wasn't understanding what she was trying to say with the way his brows were knitted together. She sighed as she set the pill down and laid the bottle down beside it. She didn't want to have to explain this to someone who was practically a stranger to her, but she had a strong sense that he would try to push her and push her until she relented. She took a deep breath and ran a quick hand through her hair again.

"When I was younger, I had a problem with drugs. I was…an addict, and it wasn't to just one type of drug; it was to almost all of them. It really didn't matter what drug it was, if I got my hands on it, I was going to use it to get high. That includes prescription drugs like Vicodin and Norco." she paused a moment, her eyes drifting down to the half pill down in front of her before coming back up and meeting Jake's again.

"Anyways, when I was 18, I finally got clean, and I haven't taken any sort of drug since then. Me holding that," she said, gesturing to the tablet in front of her. "Is the first time I've even **held** any sort of medication in about 9 years now." Jake looked at with a blank expression for a moment for nodding his understanding. His expression slowly morphed into one of mild conflict. Ramona questioned him with her eyes and he hesitated before speaking.

"Um, I totally get why you're telling me this, and I commend you for your sobriety; I really do but, u…don't get mad at me for saying this, but I think you should take the pill. You can hardly even walk, Ramona." he said cautiously. Ramona wanted very badly to argue with him, but she couldn't bring herself to do so; she agreed with him, in a way. Her eyes drifted back down to the pill sitting less than five inches in front of her and weighed her options. She could either sit here until she could possibly work her body out enough to move, or she could take the pill and get herself going in less than 30 minutes. She took a deep breath and let out very slowly, having come to a decision. Very slowly, she reached out with both of her hands and took up the pill and water again. She examined the pill one last time before clenching her eyes shut and popping it into her mouth, cracking the seal on the bottle and rinsing the pill down with a quick swig of water. She made sure the pain killer was completely down her throat before letting out a shaky breath and slowly opening her eyes again. Jake was watching her with a curious expression that he suppressed at the sight of her dark eyes. He smile encouragingly at her to which she smiled back, and then looked back down at his watch.

"Now all we need to do is wait for that to kick in." he said. She nodded and closed her eyes again in an attempt to fight down her quickly growing feeling disappointment. _It__'__s __just __once, __Mona. __You__'__re __strong __enough __to __just __have __one._ Very carefully, she pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She rested her chin on her knees and was content to wait for the pill to kick in, but Jake's fidgeting just in front of her got her attention. She looked at him curiously as he played with the hem of his shirt, his fingers tugging idly at a loose string there. He seemed nervous or bothered by something and that, in turn, made her feel a little nervous as well.

"Is everything all right?" she asked quietly. He looked back up at her and smiled weakly.

"Yeah, I just…I kinda want to talk to you about something." he said quietly. At this, Ramona sat up straight. She let her knees fall away from each other and then crossed her ankles over one another, tucking them up into her.

"Okay. Shoot." she said as she ran an unsure hand through her hair. Jake took a deep breath and turned to face her a bit more before speaking.

"Let me start off by asking you this: have you made any decisions about what you're gonna do from here-on-out?" he asked. Ramona looked down at her hands that she had laced together in her lap. She still had no real idea of what she was going to do. In the moments of silence she'd found before falling asleep the previous night she'd managed to formulate a very small plan. Granted, it wasn't the best of plans, but it bought her just a little bit more time to really think about what she was going to do in the long run.

"Well, once I leave here, I'm gonna find a cheap motel and stay there until I figure out what to do about…everything." she said as she looked back up at the blonde. He nodded slowly, clearly processing what she was telling him.

"So…you don't have any real long term plans then?" Ramona shrugged.

"All I really want to do is make my way back home to Chicago so I can get my things and move on." she explained. "I can figure everything out from there." Again, Jake nodded, but he soon fell silent as he mulled over something in his head. Ramona waited anxiously for him to speak again, wondering just what he could be getting at with this conversation.

"Okay," he finally said. "I have a…proposition of sorts for you, but I just want you to hear me out before you say anything." He looked up at her with a nervous expression that only seemed to worsen as she nodded to him. He took a deep breath before continuing.

"I took a look at the traveling schedule for the Raw roster, and it looks like we'll be flying out towards Illinois towards the end of this month. Actually, I think the closest we get will be Nebraska, but that's close enough." Ramona furrowed her brow in confusion at him, completely not understanding where he was attempting to go with this. Jake held her gaze as he shifted around to face her a bit more.

"What I'm trying to say is that I think you should just stay with me until we get to Nebraska. From there we can fly you out to Chicago, and then you can go home." he said quickly. Ramona stared at him blankly for a while before giving him a look of utter disbelief.

"Are you fucking crazy? There's no way I'm doing that. I can't afford to be on the road. The only way I did before was because Phil took care of everything. Plus, I don't even really know you. Why would I stay with you?" Jake took on a look of slight offense at her words.

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely, feeling bad for having hurt his feelings. "That's not how I meant to say that, but it **is** what I meant to say. I mean, this is crazy on all accounts, Jake. It's crazy for you to even suggest, and it'd be insane for me to accept. It's just…crazy." repeated. Jake nodded, but shrugged slightly before replying.

"I know that this plan of mine is kinda insane. I get that. I honestly wouldn't go along with it if I was in your position, but you have to think of it this way: you don't have much in the way of a better option here. I mean, I'm offering you a sure fire way home and the time to think out a real plan of action for when you get there. And, for the record, you wouldn't have to pay for anything; I'd cover it all. You wouldn't have anything to worry about except what you're gonna do in the long run." he said. Ramona looked up at him with a skeptical expression.

"I have no way of paying you back for this, Jake. I mean, I have about $700 in the pocket which is not nearly enough to make up for all of this, and then I have me which I'm not offering So…if you're expecting some sort of payment, I have nothing to give you." Jake smiled a little at that and shook his head.

"I'm not asking for anything in return, and I'd never ask for **that** sort of thing. Just think of it as…a friend helping a friend." he said slowly, as though this was the best way he could word what he wanted to say. Ramona arched a brow at him.

"But…you hardly even know me." she pointed out again. He nodded.

"I know, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to help you. And I know that you probably think that I have some hidden reason to be doing this, but I don't. I swear to you that I don't." he said. Ramona searched his features for any trace of a lie or any sort of malicious intent, but she found nothing there. She sat back a bit as she continued to read him, slightly surprised by what she found. He seemed absolutely sincere about everything he was saying, which confused her; she'd never known anyone that could want to give so much to a perfect stranger. She chose not to dwell on it too much and decided to gain more insight on to just what he was proposing; she wasn't agreeing to it until she knew that it'd work.

"If I agreed to this idea of yours, where would I be staying?" she asked, making sure to phrase her words hypothetically.

"I thought I'd give you the option. I could either book you a separate room or I could book us a room with two beds." he offered. She nodded and thought this through in her head.

"If I stay, I want to share a room with you. It's cheaper than booking two rooms."

"I don't mind either way. I'm not too incredibly worried about how much it'll cost." he said.

"I know, but I am. It would make me feel a lot better if I didn't rack up a huge bill for you." she explained. Jake shrugged.

"If that's how you feel." he said. Ramona nodded before looking at him very seriously; one big question weighed heavily on her mind.

"What about Phil?" she asked. "If he finds me, then this whole plan of yours goes to shit."

"I already thought about that, and I've got it handled. I called Vince this morning and got him to agree to have me booked in another hotel away from the rest of the roster. Oh, and I got him to allow me to travel on a different schedule too. We may end up having to drive between some cities, but it keeps Punk out of your hair."

"How'd you convince Vince to let you do that?" she asked out of genuine curiosity.

"I told him that there was a little bit of bad blood brewing between me and a few of the other wrestlers, and that I needed a little bit of space. I didn't name any names like he wanted, but he gave me the schedule and booking difference after a bit of convincing."

"What about the extra room or double bed situation? I find it really hard to believe that Vince McMahon didn't try to question that." Jake smiled a bit and looked back down at his hands.

"I just said that I had a family member coming from home that'd be staying with me for a bit." he said. Ramona didn't exactly believe that that was all that was said, but she decided to let it go as she fell silent once more.

What Jake was offering her seemed far too good to be true, but all of the facts told her that it was true. Jake seemed so sincere in his offer and, though she hadn't known him for very long at all, she felt like she could trust him in this. _He__'__s __given __me __no __reason __not __to, _she thought as memories of the previous night flooded her mind. Jake had done everything that he said he would and more, even after she'd been a right bitch to him. He helped her when she needed it the most, and he was offering to do that again; how could she pass that up?

"Okay." she said, interrupting the silence that had grown around them. "I'll stay."

"You sure? I don't want you to feel like you have to." he said. Ramona nodded to him with a small smile.

"I'm sure. I need the help, and you're the only one willing to give it." At that, a large smile erupted across Jake's face. He stood up and glanced at the large watch he wore on his wrist.

"All right. It's almost 6:15 now, so that means we've got a good 4 or so hours before we fly out. I say we wrap it up here, load up the rental, grab something to eat, and then head to the airport." he said. Ramona watched him curiously as he recited his plan to her. When he looked back up at her his smile slipped a bit at her expression, and he looked down at his shoes.

"That is, if you're up to it." he added quietly as he inspected the toes of his shoes. Instead of responding, Ramona began to cautiously unfold her bruised limbs and moved to the edge of the bed. Jake snapped his attention back up to her as she carefully stood up. He reached a hand out and placed it on the dip of her back to spot her in case she fell again. Much to both of their relief, she merely wobbled in place for a moment before standing still and stretching her arms above her head. Jake breathed a sigh a relief and she smiled up at him, happy to finally feel all right without feeling too drugged. Jake smiled back down at her, his cerulean eyes lighting up and smiling as much as the rest of his face. She lowered her gaze briefly so as not to be blinded by the brightness of his smile and turned to fully face him. She flicked her dark eyes back up at him, meeting his blue ones once more, and crossed her arms over her chest before speaking.

"I'm treating for breakfast." she stated. Jake's radiant smile immediately fell into a frown as he opened his mouth to protest. Ramona held a hand up to him, silencing him before he could really speak.

"It's the least I can do, and it would make me happy. Just think of it as a 'thank you for helping me in my time of need' meal." she said. Jake remained silent, but continued to hold a stubborn look on his face as if he meant to argue with her still. Ramona looked up at him with a pleading gaze, pouting slightly.

"Please, Jake?" she asked. Jake rolled his eyes and let out a defeated sigh.

"All right, fine. Just go get ready so we can go." he said as he turned back to his suitcase. Ramona smiled triumphantly and went to her own bag to retrieve her clothes for the day. After carefully selecting an outfit that would cover most of her marred body, she pulled out her hair care products as well as her makeup to cover up what would still be seen of her bruises. It was as she was pulling these items out that a very sudden and random thought hit her, and she turned to Jake again.

"Hey, do you still have that number I asked you to write down last night?" Jake turned his head to look at her and nodded before pointing to a small pad of paper on the desk.

"It's right there. Do you need to use my phone?" he asked. She smiled at him.

"If you wouldn't mind." she replied. Jake turned back to his suitcase with a small smile of his own.

"It's on the desk still. Feel free to use it as long as you'd like." he said. Ramona quietly thanked him as she walked over to the desk and gathered up both the phone and the pad of paper before walking into the bathroom. She took one final glance at Jake before she closed the bathroom door between them. For a couple of moments she didn't move or make any motions to do anything; she simply stood in the darkness of the bathroom taking deep breaths to calm her rapidly rising nerves. When she felt calm again, she blindly reached her right hand out and flipped on the bathroom light. She blinked rapidly as her eyes adjusted before she turned around, pressed her back against the cool wood of the door, and slid down its surface to the floor. Her fingers trembled as she pulled up the digital keypad on Jake's phone and punched in the Floridian cell phone number. Her fingers trembled a bit as she moved the to the 'call' button, so she took another breath and tapped the screen to put the call through. As she lifted the phone up to her ear, she instinctively brought her knees to her chest again and rested her chin on them. The phone rang three times before she heard the distinctive 'click' of the line connecting.

"Hello?"

"Barri? It's me…it's Mona." she responded weakly into the phone.

"Ramona? I've been worried sick about you! Are you all right? Where are you?"

"I'm fine." she replied as she wrapped her free arm around her shins, securing her legs in their upright position.

"Where are you, chwaer fach? Punk said you stepped out last night for a walk and didn't come back. He was worried about you. We all were." Ramona's jaw clenched at this, her eyes slipping closed as she sucked in a deep breath through her nose. Anger flooded through her at Barri's words, at Phil's lie. She wasn't sure what else she had expected; the man hadn't been honest about what he was doing before. Still, it irritated her.

"Well, you don't need to worry about me." she said, opening her eyes again. "I'm somewhere safe."

"But **where** are you?" he asked again. Ramona chewed nervously at her bottom lip.

"I can't tell you that, brawd mawr." she replied with a sigh.

"Why? Are you certain you're all right? Is someone hurting you?" Ramona hesitated in her response. The conflict she'd felt the previous day rose up within her again at his question. She could tell him what was going without any real guilt now; this much she knew, but she also knew that he'd offer to help her. Even if he offered, she knew she couldn't take him up on it, not until she was ready to face Phil and the wrath she knew would come with him. She wasn't ready for that; not yet, anyways.

"I just can't tell you where I am, Barri. I'm so sorry, but I just…I can't." she said in a firm tone. She spoke quietly and deliberately, hoping that he would understand how important it was that she kept this from him. Barri grew silent for a moment before letting out a tired sigh.

"Ramona, I'm going to ask you something, and you have to answer me in complete honesty, all right?"

"Okay." she said, deciding not to deny him this.

"Rydych yn rhegi?" he asked, his tone a bit desperate. Ramona sighed.

"Ydy. Wyf yn tyngu." she replied. The line fell silent for a moment, the only indication of Barri's presence on the other side being his shallow breathing.

"Did Phil hurt you? " he finally asked. "Is that why you left?" For a moment, absolute dread filled her at his inquiries. Her chest felt tight, and she couldn't quite catch her breath because of it. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to regain her sense of sanity and began to rationalize with herself. There was no harm in talking to Barri about this now. She wasn't with Phil and he couldn't find her without having to jump through some pretty tight hoops. She knew that Barri wouldn't tell Phil any of this. She could trust the Welshman with anything, she knew this as well. And, after all of the lies she'd spilled when it came to this particular subject, he deserved to know this. _I __just __need __to __talk __to __him __about __this. __He __deserves __to __know, _she thought.

"Yes." she replied, her eyes sliding open once more. Barri grew silent and remained so for a long while. Her worry began to set in, and she feared that he'd hung up on her.

"Barri?" she called.

"I'm here, chwaer fach. I'm here." he replied. She let out a relieved sigh and slumped a bit more against the door.

"Say something, please. I don't care what you say; just say **something**. Yell at me, make up some lame excuse about having to go now…just talk to me." she begged.

"Pam na wnaethoch chi ddweud wrthyf beth oedd yn ei wneud i chi, merch melys?" His voice sounded strained, broken even, as though he was pained by her words. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she took a deep breath and fought them down.

"I...I don't know what that means." she admitted.

"Why didn't you tell me what he was doing, Mona?" he asked, this time a bit more composed. Ramona thought carefully about her answer before responding.

"I was scared. I was terrified of the idea of him finding out if I told you."

"But I could have helped you. I would have helped you with this, and you know that. You could have stayed with me or something. The point is, I would have helped."

"You don't understand, Barri. He would have hurt you. Do you even know what he'll do to get me back?" she asked quietly.

"I don't care. I'm a lot bigger and stronger than him."

"Barri...I could **not** live with myself if he hurt you, even a little bit." she said, her voice cracking from the desperation she felt. The tears she had fought so adamantly before now spilled freely down her cheeks, but she moved quickly to wipe them away. She didn't want to waste anymore tears on this. _It__'__s __time __to __be __strong __now, _she thought as she wiped away the last of her tears and waited for Barri to speak again.

"Please don't get upset, chwaer fach." Barri pleaded in a saddened tone. Ramona sniffled one last time as she sat up straight against the door once more.

"I'm not upset. I'm okay. Well, not really, but I will be. I'm just a little emotional right now. You know how us girls can get." she said with a halfhearted laugh. Barri chuckled a bit but stopped abruptly as a flight was announced over the airport's intercom. There was some light shuffling before he spoke again.

"I have to board my flight right now." he stated sadly. Ramona bit her lip again momentarily as sadness bloomed in her chest.

"All right. I'll let you go then."

"Wait. Not just yet. When will I hear from you again?" he asked. Ramona frowned. She really didnt know when she would be able to contact him again, or even if she **could**. She really couldn't risk Phil finding out about them talking.

"I honestly don't know." she replied.

"I see," he said sadly. "Well, I hope it's soon."

"I hope so too." she replied. They grew quiet agian, neither of them really wanting to hang up. Something inside her wanted to stay on the phone forever; there was something about knowing that Barri was her last connection to Phil that felt unnerving. She wasn't sure that she was ready to completely sever that bond, that tie to the life she had known for almost 10 years now. _No. __Barri __is __not __a __part __of __that. __He__'__s __one __of __the __few __allies __I __have __left. __Barri __stays, _she thought in a silent promise to both herself and Barri.

"Well, have a safe flight." she said in as close to a cheerful tone as she could manage.

"I will...be safe, chwaer fach."

"I'll try, brawd mawr. Bye." she replied.

"Good bye." Ramona pulled the phone away from her ear and let out a small breath as she ended the call. Without another moment's hesitaion, she lifted herself from the cold tiles of the bathroom floor with the intent of facing the day head on. _No __more __moping, _she thought as she turned to open the bathroom. She caught her reflection out of the corner of her eye and halted a moment to examine herself to see what she'd have to deal with today.

The bruising wasn't as bad as she had anticipated, but was still worse than she'd like. The marks along her neck and arms had darkened to an ugly purple color that she knew would be a little difficult to cover up, but she'd done it so many times before that they wouldn't be an insurpassable issue; it would just take some time and attention to detail. As for the yellow-green bruises along her jaw, she could hardly even consider them a blip on the radar of 'problematic injuries'. The bite mark, though was an entirely different issue. There was no way to make up the wound with how raw it still was, so she'd be forced to hide it instead. Luckily for her, she'd grabbed a few t-shirts that would cover up the whole patch of gauze. She leanded in closer to her reflection and slipped the strap of her borrowed wife beater down over her shoulder to observer the bite. it seemed that the bite had opened up again and had bled through a bit overnight; a few red spots shone through the gauze. Very gently her figers pried and tugged at the medical tape Jake had pressed down along the top of her chest until it lifted from her skin. The gauze clung painfully to her wound as she pulled the linen square further down her collarbone, but she mustered through the action without much more than a sharp hiss of pain. When the wound was exposed, she let out a small sigh of relief. It was all ready clotting and closing up despite it's repopening in the night, and there were no visible signs of infection. _Another __cleaning __won__'__t __hurt,_ she thought as she folded the gauze back into place and resecured it to her skin. She drew her attention away from her wounds at that point and nodded to herself in the mirror with a smile, trying her usual 'everything's fine and so am I' face on before running a hand through her bed-head to smooth it. With that, she wrenched open the bathroom door and stepped out into the hotel room once more.

She found Jake sitting quietly at the foot of the bed with his elbows balanced on his knees and his hands folded neatly in front of him. He smiled brightly at her as she approached him to return his phone to him.

"Thank you for letting me use your phone." she said as she handed it to him.

"No problem. You can use it anytime you need to." he assured her. She smiled gratefully at him before walking to her bag to dispense Barri's number into it. She slipped the quarter sheet between the pages of her notebook to keep it secure. When that was done, she tossed the remaining pad of paper back onto the desk and turned to face Jake once more.

"Would you mind if I used your first aid kit again?" Jake shook his head as he stood up and moved to his suitcase.

"Of course not. You can use this anytime you need too. Here," he said as he handed the white kit to her with a sweet smile. She returned his smile and thanked him quietly before she scooped up her things and headed back to the bathroom.

"I'll be ready in about 45 minutes. If I take any longer than that, knock on the door and tell me to haul ass." she stated as she laid her clothes out on the counter

"Take your time, Ramona. We're in no real hurry." he stated. Ramona looked up at him and cracked another smile.

"Call me Mona, please. All my friends do." she said. Jake nodded to her, and she nodded back before closing the door between them again. Standing in front of the mirror again, she assessed herself one last time before setting off on the challenging yet familiar task of looking virtually unabused and presentable for the day.

* * *

><p>Almost exactly 45 minutes later Ramona emerged from the bathroom but, this time, she was nearly a completely different person. Her hair was neatly pressed and sculpted into her usual layered bob, though her bangs continued to slide down across her eyes. She donned one of the few t-shirts she liked to wear, a black Metric shirt, and fresh pair of dark-blue skinny jeans and socks. She let out a huff of air and blew her bangs back before moving on to replace all of her things into her bag. When everything was as she left it, she turned to Jake with the first aid kit in hand, but was surprised to find him staring at her with a look of shock. She tried to ignore him and chose to just put the kit back into his suitcase herself, but she could feel his eyes still glued to her. When she turned back to him, she furrowed her brow in confusion at him and shifted uncomfortably beneath his gaze.<p>

"Um...why are you looking at me like that?" she asked. Jake ripped his eyes away from her, a slight blush coming to his cheeks, and shook his head at her.

"It's nothing. It's just that...well, you look **normal**." he explained, bringing his cornflower eyes up to meet her chocolate ones. Ramona nodded in understanding as she glanced down at her masterfully madeup arms. The blending of products on her arms was flawless; only a trained eye and a harsh critic could tell that she was even wearing makeup.

"Yeah. Well, those bruises were nothing a little stage makeup can't handle." she explained.

"That's amazing." Jake remarked, truly impressed. Ramona looked up at him sadly.

"I've had a lot of practice." she stated. Jake frowned at her, his face etched with a wordless apology and some other emotion that she wasn't really looking for at the moment: pity. She walked over to where her boots lay in a heap besided the foot of the bed and picked them up. She kept her eyes down and away from the blonde as she sat down on the desk chair and shoved her feet down into her boots, taking extra special care to adjust the tops of her boots. When she finished with that, she stood back up and looked at Jake again. He was still regarding her with the same sad look, so she crossed her arms over her chest and quirked a brow at him.

"Is there a reason that you're looking at me like that, or do you think I want your pity right now?" she snapped, her temper flaring and extinguishing almost simultaneously. Jake immediately lowered his eyes and shook his head.

"No. I'm sorry." he said as he lifted his tall frame from the bed. Ramona felt bad for snapping at him and uncrossed her arms with a sigh.

"It's all right. I just don't need you feeling bad for me. I feel bad enough for myself, so I don't really need you to. It'll just make this month or so easier if I'm the only one pitying me." she explained. Jake nodded.

"I understand." he stated as he glanced back up at her.

"Good." she said, her smile slowly returning. "Now, let's eat!"

* * *

><p>brawd mawr- big brother<p>

Rydych yn rhegi?- You swear?

Ydy. Wyf yn tyngu.- Yes. I swear.

Pam na wnaethoch chi ddweud wrthyf beth oedd yn ei wneud i chi, merch melys?- Why didn't you tell me what he was doing to you, sweet girl?


End file.
